"Bandits" plays rather like an updated version of "Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid," complete with Etta Place and reimagined primarily as
a comedy despite an opening sequence that threatens impending doom. The
movie has some terrific jokes, committed performances and a cheerful
disposition. The surprise ending isn’t exactly a surprise – an early
scene that lays the groundwork also will tip off the finale to anybody
paying attention – but getting there is good fun. A much bigger
surprise, revealed in the "making-of" featurette, is that this tale of
bank robbers with an improbable-seeming technique is actually based
(albeit loosely) on fact.

Joe Blake (Bruce Willis) and Terry Collins (Billy Bob Thornton) are in
a whole lot of trouble when we first meet them. Their attempt to rob a
downtown Los Angeles bank has resulted in a room full of hostages, a
SWAT team just outside the door and an argument between the two
partners over being betrayed by a woman named Kate (Cate Blanchett). We
then flash back to Joe and Terry in prison, where Joe distinguishes
himself with flashes of temper and Terry is notable for fretting over
imagined illnesses and coming up with the occasional inspired idea.
When Joe stages a fatality-free breakout in a cement mixer, Terry finds
himself along for the ride. Joe has a dream of retiring to Mexico, and
means to finance it by robbing banks. Terry, enjoying the partnership
but dreading violence, comes up with an almost-safe way of
accomplishing the thefts. The two men will show up the night before the
robbery on the doorstep of the bank manager’s home, take him or her
hostage, spend the night, then accompany the manager to work in the
morning before the bank opens. Soon the "Sleepover Bandits," as they
are dubbed by the media, find themselves achieving success and
notoriety. Then they meet Kate and the dynamics of the partnership
start to alter.

Harley Peyton’s script plays off the internal contradictions of the
antiheroes. Joe and Terry are embarked on a genuinely dangerous course
and fancy themselves to be dangerous men, yet neither of them is in any
way equipped to harm another human being (something some of the bank
managers comprehend immediately). The film thrives on incongruity, a
bit eccentric without being precious, full of riffs yet with a plot
that stays on track. Joe’s temper is menacing at times, but actor
Willis and director Barry Levinson know just how far to take the
character, allowing him to be credibly tough and intimidating without
ever making us feel that he’s potentially hateful.

Levinson also creates some great off-hand visual jokes and gives the
film a sometimes breathtaking beauty. A Chapter 25 sequence in which
our heroes shoot off tracers in celebration against a pink-and-blue
sunset is stunning, and a shot of Blanchett with her flaming red
tresses backlit and blowing in the wind against the night sky is
utterly magical.

The 5.1 sound is generally excellent, with a strong center channel for
dialogue and lots of scene-setting directional effects throughout,
starting right in Chapter 1, as a helicopter moves through mains and
rears, achieving a subtlety of presence as it recedes so realistic that
for awhile, it sounds as if it’s hovering outside the listening
environment rather than in the speaker system. Chapter 3 has a very
realistic selection of gunshots that each sound different depending on
what they’re hitting (windshield, bumper, hood, headlight), while
moving appropriately according to screen direction. There’s also a
great rear to front vehicular sound as onscreen, the truck drives away
from us. Chapter 12 introduces the incandescent Blanchett as Kate
lip-synchs and dances her way around a kitchen to Bonnie Tyler’s
"Holding Out for a Hero" – eat your heart out, "Footloose." In Chapter
13, as Kate actually sings along with "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
coming from her car radio, there is an authentic-sounding distinction
between the radio music and the "live" voice of the character. Chapter
18 makes a similarly lifelike distinction as characters are alternately
heard onscreen and over a bank window intercom system. Chapter 20 has
an entertainingly-staged road incident, with enveloping directional
effects as three vehicles swerve this way and that. Chapter 22 has
amusing, effective use of U2’s "Beautiful Day" as one character cruises
a pretty girl. Chapter 30 has a vivid, full-bodied shotgun blast – it
sounds and feels like a door slam – more directional helicopter effects
and gunshots, without compromising the solidity of the dialogue track.
About the only possible complaint to be made is that an explosion that
extends from Chapter 31 through 32 looks a lot larger than it sounds.

Extras include the aforementioned "making-of" featurette, a separate
featurette on a love scene (with discussion about song licensing rights
that may be of passing interest to those with an interest in the
logistics of use of music in movies), some deleted scenes and an
alternate ending that’s very similar to the actual ending, though
Blanchett’s commentary is charming.

"Bandits" has a couple of drawbacks. One of the key relationships,
while comically effective, isn’t really convincing – we’re told that a
character is thoughtful and tender, when self-centered and paranoid
seems a more apt description. It’s not disastrous, but it becomes
noticeable after awhile. On the other hand, Blanchett’s Kate is a
marvelous female lead, a rare instance where a free-spirited eccentric
heroine comes off as a life force instead of someone in need of
sedatives.

Mainly, "Bandits" is inventive and engagingly quirky, with a fair
amount of laugh-out-loud humor. It is certainly worth seeing.